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Planning Division Community & Economic Development Department

To: Historic Landmark Commission

From: Katia Pace, Principal Planner

Date: March 26, 2014

Re: National Register of Historic Places Nomination: International Peace

Attached please find the National Register of Historic Places nomination for the International Peace Gardens located at 1000 South 900 West.

National Register The National Register of Historic Places is the official federal listing of cultural resources that are significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, and engineering. The State Office (SHPO) desires input from the Historic Landmark Commission, a Certified Local Government (CLG), regarding National Register nominations within the Salt Lake ’s boundaries. A nomination is reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Review Board prior to being submitted to the , the federal organization responsible for the National Register.

Listing on the National Register provides recognition and assists in preserving the Nation's heritage. Listing of a property provides recognition of its historic significance and assures protective review of federal projects that might adversely affect the character of the historic property. Listing in the National Register does not place limitations on the property by the federal or state government.

Background The gardens comprise 11 acres and are located in Jordan Park along the banks of the Jordan River at 9th West and 10th South in Salt Lake. The was completed in 1947. Twenty-eight countries are represented at the gardens. The gardens are maintained by the Salt Lake City Parks Department.

Criteria for Nomination The Peace Gardens are significant under the following National Register Criteria :

Criteria A - The Gardens are significant in the areas of Ethnic Heritage and Social History in its reflection of a desire to increase cultural understanding prior to and following World War II.

Criteria C - The Gardens are significant in the of and Art. It is an important place of conservation for several important works of art and landscape.

Criteria Consideration F – The Gardens have many commemorative features, most of them plaques and markers.

Criterion Consideration G – The Gardens have many pieces of artwork and structures that are less than 50 years old. However, they have gained significance because of their prominence in the Garden or their association with important artists and craftsmen.

Next Step The State Historic Preservation Review Board will review the National Register nomination during their April 17, 2014 meeting. Commission Members should focus their review and comments on whether a reasonable case has been made for the significance and forward a recommendation to the State Historic Preservation Review Board on the nomination.

Attachments: A. Area Map B. Request Letter from the State Historic Preservation Office C. National Register Nomination D. Public Comments

Attachment A Area Map International Peace Gardens

Attachment B Request Letter from the State Historic Preservation Office

Attachment C National Register Nomination

NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 0014United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.

1. Name of Property Historic name: ______International Peace Gardens______Other names/site number: ______Name of related multiple property listing: ______(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ______2. Location Street & number: __1000 South 900 West ______City or town: _Salt Lake City__ State: __UT______County: __USA______Not For Publication: Vicinity: ______3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this X nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X_ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: _ _national _X statewide ___local Applicable National Register Criteria: X A ___B X C ___D

Signature of certifying official/Title: Date Utah Division of State History/Office of Historic Preservation State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official: Date

Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

1

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

______4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) ______

______Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ______5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private:

Public – Local X

Public – State

Public – Federal

Category of Property (Check only one box.)

Building(s)

District

Site X

Structure

Object

Sections 1-6 page 2

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing _____ 3 ______buildings

_____ 9 ______7 ______sites

_____14______6 ______structures

_____37______22______objects (24 plus 13 significant ) _____65______33______Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ______6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor Recreation/Park ______

Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) RECREATION AND CULTURE/Outdoor Recreation/Park ______

Sections 1-6 page 3

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

______7. Description

Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) _OTHER ______

Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: , WOOD, METAL, STONE, , STUCCO, OTHER.

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______Summary Paragraph Combining beautification and citizenship projects, the Salt Lake City International Peace Gardens comprises eleven acres in the northwest Section of Jordan Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. With half its boundary naturally formed by a bend in the Jordan River this city-owned and designated public garden is divided into twenty-eight Sections, each averaging 90 by 160 feet, each representative of one nation. The visitor who approaches through the main gate will enjoy perspectives reminiscent of classic English gardens with lawns and exotic follies: architecture, , a Swedish Cottage, a trompe l'oeil Matterhorn, and a Norwegian obelisk set amid color blocked flower beds and borders, flags of numerous lands, lawns, and a botanically important of nonindigenous interspersed glades of trees. On closer inspection, plaques embedded in boulders detail the building of the garden spaces over a sixty-year span decorated by diverse cultural/ethnic or immigrant groups in styles reflective of their respective homelands.

Planned in 1938 and laid out between 1947 and 1955, when the first gardens were completed, the general appearance of the property was inspired by Cleveland's International Peace Gardens and Buchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. Stylistically the older half of the garden might best be described as “Around-the-World Iconic Landscape Design,” but coalescing around a more comprehensive alignment of California Modernist principles and repeated elements.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State These elements include straight delineations indicated by hedgerows or rows of trees between garden "rooms," carpet-bedded floral displays on raised mounds, circular cement pools, faceted gates and drinking fountains, and strategic placement of boulders throughout many of the Sections create a sense of continuity from one garden to the next.

Beyond specific design principles of Modernist gardening, these Gardens are further unified by the repetition of several unique features. During the Gardens open time from May through September, flagpoles pierce the landscape, flying colorful flags of each of the nations represented. Second, most of the plots are labeled in one of three ways: The nation’s name is spelled out either by carpet-bedded floral words, an iron archway with the country name in cutout iron letters, or a boulder either engraved or mounted with a plaque embedded with the nation's name. A third repeated trend in later gardens is the use of two-dimensional painted metal in colors creating a map, a cross, or a harp. A wide concrete elliptical walkway leads pedestrians along a loop offering access to each nation’s garden, while a bicycle path passes along the Jordan River boundary and over a wooden bridge between the Japanese and Brazilian Sections. The walkway was originally a single avenue leading to the west end of the gardens, but sometime after 1968 was revamped into a loop to accommodate more gardens. Entrance Avenue with its two circular walkways is original to the plans and can be traced as far back as 1948. Each nation’s plot section is separately expounded upon below.

______Narrative Description

Entrance Area

A (contributing, 1948) faceted sandstone gate (photo 0001) with a decorative ironwork archway spelling out INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDENS around a cornucopia with doves stands at the formal entrance on the southeast corner of the property. Iron gates can be closed at dusk. Two 36 x 48 inch bronze plaques (one removed) introduce the gardens’ genesis. A (contributing, c. 1950) chain link fence, originally decorated with red and white roses, surrounds the part of the garden not bordered by the river. Inside the main gate is a rectangular (contributing, c. 1950) patio lined on both sides with four (non-contributing) metal benches reading “2002 Games” in honor of the Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City. Decorative terrazzo tiles have also been embedded into the brown tiled patio. At the far west end of this patio is a (contributing, 1996, photo 0002) resin of a woman by Edward Fraughton with outstretched arms. It dates from the 1990's. Behind this welcoming figure are more (non-contributing) embedded tiles with engraved names and years of past presidents of the Salt Lake Council of Women, official partner of the city in the International Peace Gardens project. Beyond the patio stands a (contributing, photo 0002) brown brick gateway arch, a gift from the Stonemasons Association in the 1950's with two (noncontributing) concrete benches placed in front.

The thirty flagpoles (contributing, 1950-2000) flying various nation’s flags dotting the Gardens are a significant hallmark of the landscape. They shall be classified as a group to be a single contributing resource in the narrative description. The same shall apply to the 102 benches (contributing, 1950-2002) found throughout the gardens, as well as total lawns (contributing,

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State 1950-), total flowers outside flower beds (contributing, 1950-),total trees and shrubbery which are not singled out as significant (contributing 1950-) and the total concrete walkways (contributing, 1950-) In addition the scenic Jordan River bend which forms a natural border to the gardens (contributing, 1938-) is an incomparably scenic natural resource which has from the beginning inspired the gardens’ designers. The numerous park lamps and three garbage containers present are not listed as resources.

National Gardens

Older Gardens, Outer Loop

The American Section, dating to 1947, occupies the east position just inside the main gate to the north. A (contributing, 1976, photo 0003) monument and elaborate sculpture group by Avard Fairbanks, made of rose and cement anchors the northeast end of the plot. Erected in 1976 it reads, "The Dawn of a new Era” and "Our hope [are] the children" with a sunrise. West of it is a recessed, rectangular step-down sunken formal garden with a concrete birdbath. The installation date is unknown. Directly above and south are (contributing, 1959) carpet bed floral displays. The word "America,” is spelled out in green brush. Originally it read "God Bless America" (photo 0004) A ceremony was held in 1952 dedicating the chain-link fence, roses for the fence, and an American flag. Three (contributing) monumental flagpoles donated by Kennecott Copper Company still fly flags. And the (contributing, 1952) chain-link fence still encloses the International Peace Gardens on its boundaries with Jordan Park. The (noncontributing) raised cement stage was added in 1993 for use by all the culture groups affiliated with the Gardens. A (noncontributing) boulder in the northwest corner has a bronze plaque memorial to Mrs. Otto Weisley, credited with starting the gardens.

The Swedish Section built in 1953, is located on an uninterrupted parcel of lawn extending north from the American Section on the garden’s east border: Thirty-eight varieties of evergreens like those found in Sweden, were the north side of the garden where the South lawn merges with the American Section, the last of these having been removed by the Parks Division in 2013. In the original plan, lilacs would have encircled the Swedish plot. (See attached architectural drawing) From the entrance facing east, a large expanse of lawn leads from the entrance of the garden to the vignette of a traditional stuga or summer cabin (contributing, 1953, photo 0005) constructed of red painted clapboard with a tile roof, scalloped wood porch, and two windows. Repairs at an unknown date have left the stuga without the chimney, and with painted trompe l'oeil windows replacing the glass ones. Just south of the cottage is a (contributing) circle of stones originally meant to have a rowboat moored in a pond (never actualized) beneath a tree. To complete the vignette at the entrance, a round flower bed with roses, has a brass plaque with dedication information. A bronze sundial, a gift from the Swedish King (as was the flagpole), has disappeared. The original carpet bed design was an image of the Swedish flag made of yellow and blue flowers behind which is still extant the rose circle from the original plan (see map 0002).

Bounded on the South by the Swedish Section and on the North by the Swiss Section, the English Section built in 1959 begins with a (noncontributing) brick gateway and iron arch

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State spelling in cutout iron letters. Earlier documents describe lion and unicorn on a gate. Also reported were flowers sent from England to here. Having begun with a carpet bed floral display portraying the British crown, the garden today consists of a rectangular box- hedge boundary enclosing a style . In the center is a (contributing, criterion G) Edward Fraughton bust of Margaret Thatcher, commemorating her visit to Salt Lake City, erected in 2000. (photo 0006, see Art)

The Swiss Section occupies the northeast corner of the site with the bike trail and Jordan River passing behind it. The design in 1959 (photo 0007) of this garden depicts stacked boulders representing mountains and an Alpine chalet, that stands more than ten feet high. In 1965 this conception was redesigned into a full vista terminating in a scaled sixty-foot high metal and stucco model of the Matterhorn (contributing, 1965) at Zermatt, Switzerland, which dominates a scaled (contributing, 1965) chalet of wood and, in fact, the entire northern prospect of the Peace Gardens’ east half. (photo 0008) The artificial mountain is surrounded by large stones and a (noncontributing) distinct iron railing dating from a 1988 renovation with a wave pattern along the path which ascends the incline. This replaced a log bridge spanning a (contributing) blue painted concrete pond from 1965 in the forefront of the exhibit. The (contributing) garden was covered at one time with Edelweiss flowers imported from Switzerland. The mountain and chalet (photo 0009) are the originals dedicated in 1965. A (contributing, 1950s) winding concrete path leads right up to the mountain's base. A (contributing, 1952) rock placed on the lawn near the entrance bears a bronze plaque reading "Switzerland."

The Norwegian Section occupies the plot west of the Swiss Section. As seen from the walking path looking north there is a circular flower bed in the center spelling “Norway” in flowers, in the middle of which stands a monument, a flat obelisk shaped “Bauta Stone” erected in 1983. (contributing, signed 1972, photo 0010, see Art). To the rear of the garden is a (contributing) folly symbolizing Norway’s fjords (photo 0011) from the garden’s dedication in 1959, with a concrete pond painted light blue over which towers a rockery with a nonoperational waterfall. Visitors may ascend the rocks to stand on a rustic log bridge (contributing, 1959, photo 0011) and view a perspective of this plot back to the Chinese gate. To the east of the is a (contributing, 1959, photo 0012) model of a granary with original wooden shingles later replaced by modern ones, in the same scale as the Swiss chalet, creating a trompe l’oeil effect merging these two gardens as if the mountain rocks and buildings are far in the distance.

The Dutch Section is divided from the Norwegian plot on the west side by soft flowerbed echoing the famous tulip gardens at Keukenhof, Holland. All that remains today is a lawn, flagpole and flowerbeds. At the entrance a (contributing, 1959, photo 0013) flowerbed spells Holland as it did in the 1950s. Documentary sources do not specify whether a planned twelve foot wooden shoe jardinière was ever built, but do speak of an operational windmill which pumped water from a lower to an upper pond (removed, date unknown). In 1950, the Dutch groups planted 30,000 tulips1 in this plot which are not extant (removal dates unknown).

West of the Dutch Section is the Finnish Section (dedicated in 1961), the landscape of which

1 Salt Lake Tribune, November 18, 1950.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State was intended to resemble a view of a lakeside with a free-standing wooden traditional Sauna or Finnish steam bath. At the forefront of this garden a pair of brick columns supports the iron arch with “Finland” spelled out in cutout iron letters. Today only the concrete foundation of the Sauna exhibit, which was removed during the 1970s citing safety reasons, remains. From the entrance gate looking north through the trunks of very tall spruce trees (contributing, 1949, photo 0014, see Significant Botany). It marks the spot just before the grass descends to the river. A (contributing, 1964, photo 0015) birdhouse which accented the original scene, remains in place

The Italian Section has formal rows of (contributing, 1965) Cypress trees which divide it on its east side from the Finnish garden and on its west side from the Lebanese garden. From the (contributing, 1965) walking path, a gradient (contributing, 1965, photo 0016) 12-foot-high by ten-foot-wide concrete slab slopes toward the viewer and is covered by a blue and brown aggregate terrazzo depicting a map of Italy with small bronze engraved plaques marking major . A concrete horseshoe walking path encircles this feature studded with concrete benches behind which five additional (contributing, 1965, photo 0016) raised concrete slabs spell out “Italy” in block letters.

The Lebanese Section, originally designated the Syrian Garden in 1947, was conceptualized as a Biblical ruin which would include a mound with Cedars of Lebanon. This garden was completed circa 1960. There are now three (contributing, 1959) features: a sandstone gate constructed from remnants of the demolished Salt Lake City Cullen Hotel (photo 0017, 0018, see Art), which formed the entrance to this plot and has an iron arch spelling “Lebanon,” a circular red concrete pond with a fountain and one tree from the original Cedars of Lebanon shipment.2 (1951, photo 0019, see Botany) The plot skirts the curve of the river on the northwest corner of the garden. Large rocks which were installed to represent the ruin in 1959 are not extant (the removal date is unknown).

The Japanese Section occupies the north rear position in the Gardens with its back bounded by the river. It is on the outer loop between the Lebanese Garden and The Brazilian garden. This garden is largely intact with nine contributing resources. As seen from the walking path, there is a formal entrance gate (contributing, 1971, photo 0020) of concrete, stone, and wood constructed in 1971 using traditional nail-less carpentry. This gate replaced an earlier (noncontributing, 1962, photo 0021) gate and teahouse constructed of bamboo which had been used at the Seattle World’s Fair and were burned by vandals. Inside the gate a meandering pathway leads around an elongated naturalistic four-foot-deep pond containing an artificial island, the sides lined with logs (photo 0020). In the back a tall mound has an embedded grotto (photo 0022) representing a waterfall original to the garden’s opening in 1950. Nonoperational today, the water originally fell into the pond and ran under the (photo 0023) original wooden drum bridge painted red and black. The (noncontributing, photo 0024) replacement bridge (removal and replacement dates unknown) is smaller but has the same design as the earlier one. Three Seventeenth-Century imported stone lanterns adorn the garden, the tallest of which (contributing, placed in 1948, photo 0025, see Art) is fourteen feet tall, and stands near the drum bridge. A second lantern of this variety (contributing, placed in 1950, photo 0026, see Art) stands at north side of the plot

2 Salt Lake Tribune, April 19, 1951.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State near where the lawn descends to the river. A second (noncontributing, 1988) footbridge crosses the pond on the north side allowing visitors to take in various perspectives as intended by this traditional type of Kaiyushiki-Teien (stroll garden.) In addition, a squat “snow viewing” lantern (contributing, placed in 1950, photo 0020, see Art) is placed on the artificial island. At the forefront of the garden is a (contributing, 1950, photo 0027) wisteria trellis in very good condition. Nine (noncontributing) cherry trees planted in 1988 help to evoke the original appearance of the garden.3 Various (contributing, 1950, photo 0020) manicured shrubs and numerous boulders brought from Utah’s Cottonwood Canyons remain in place.

Older Gardens, Inner Loop

Starting once again from the Peace Gardens’ main entrance one can see due west the Indian Section dedicated in 1965. This garden contains a (contributing) bronze statue of the famed (contributing, photo 0028, see Art) Gupta Buddha given by the Indian Government in 1965. The sculpture is mounted on a concrete platform (photo 0029) facing the Chinese pavilion with its back to the South and a flowerbed spelling “India” behind it and facing the C. A bronze (contributing, photo 0030, see Art) statue of Mahatma Gandhi, installed in 2000 in the west half of the garden is mounted atop a brick platform with the Canadian garden behind.

Facing west from the inner main entrance patio to the right within the walking loop is arrayed the Chinese Section built in 1952-3. Many trees have been planted and have grown in around the views from the Chinese section, which originally extended to the Jordan River on both the north and west sides. This identifiably mid-century modern garden style as applied to the Chinese- American idiom remains conscious of Chinese traditional garden elements and begins with a (contributing, 1952, photo 0031) Chinese gate built of wood, concrete, and brick painted red with streamlined exposed crescent moon wooden beams and a terra cotta tile curved roof with stylized ridge-edge, fin shaped wood ornaments. This structure pairs with the (contributing, 1952, photo 0032) "Plum Pavilion" at the south end of the Chinese Section in which a concrete dais leads three stairs up to a wood-framed gazebo and matching roof structure. The terrazzo table has been damaged and subsequently removed, but the sitting stools remain. The openwork balcony has a wooden geometric pattern studied from Chinese carved wood windows. There is a two-tiered pool with recirculating water, which replaced the original smooth blue cement oval pools having been replaced with a sandstone-lined free-form version (noncontributing, 1952) in 2013. The original (contributing, 1952) concrete bridge with red iron rail spans the pool, surrounded by flower beds and lawn. As is customary, the gate is flanked by (noncontributing, presumed 1970s, photo 0033) male and female lions imported from Taiwan and installed in 1979, completing the architect's original design. Five (contributing) cedar wood signs date from after 1953 and adorn the pavilion and gate. Engraved in Chinese calligraphy, the engraving was done over the original painted words in 2013. Pathways originally in volcanic ash are now sprinkled with white quartz. The garden as restored in 2013, retains its original appearance except for the pond and original plantings which included bergamot and magnolia trees and other iconic such as bush peonies and chrysanthemums. (photo 0034) Original to the plan were a tall stone grotto and Chinese wall, which were never actualized.

3 In the 1950s one hundred cherry trees, all later stolen, bloomed in this plot and on the far bank of the Jordan River.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State The Greek Section, dedicated in 2011, occupies the northeast corner of the inner loop north of the Chinese Section. Most prominent in this Section is the five-ionic column fiberglass (noncontributing, 2011, photo 0035) pediment standing sixteen-feet high with two more columns to the side on the east side of the plot, standing on a flat lawn with a concrete walkway. This folly recalling Greek architecture adds a further architectural style to the Gardens and is visible at a glance to the right from the entrance patio along with the Chinese gate, Norwegian obelisk, and Matterhorn, as would have been envisaged by the Peace Gardens’ original landscape architect. The original feeling of the Gardens is heightened by this long planned addition. A sidewalk veers off the main path forming a loop dotted with ten stainless steel music stand-style easels with engraved steel plaques, nine of which are engraved with illustrations and biographies of great men of Greece, and a tenth larger easel with a paper map of Greece under glass. A flagpole is the only contributing feature here, having flown the Greek flag for over fifty years.

Installed in the circular roundabout in the main walkway are more than one hundred six- foot-tall “Peace Poles” constructed of cedar wood and acrylic. Each is inscribed with the statement “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in English on one side, and the same statement in a different world language on the reverse. The (noncontributing, photo 0036) exhibit was installed after 1995. The Peace Pole project was developed by the Society of Prayer for World Peace and has placed over 100,000 poles around the world including the White House garden and the Vatican.4

Within the inner loop north and center west of the Greek Section is the Danish Section. Exhibiting only minimal deterioration, the Danish Section looks overall today as it did over fifty years ago. It is rich in resources, containing two contributing structures and three contributing objects. Standing on the walking path at the center on the garden the viewer sees a seven-foot (contributing, 1950, photo 0037, 0045) mound surmounted by a three sandstone boulders stacked to replicate a Viking burial mound located to the back of the lawn and left near the Greek boundary. When this contributing structure was installed in 1950, its mound was originally carpet-bedded with colorful flowers, but it is presently covered by lawn. At the center the visitor is invited to enter beneath a sixty-foot long (contributing, 1952, photo 0038) wood pergola containing six built in benches planted with flowering vines. Over sixty years the vines have established themselves spiraling each column of the pergola, giving a sense of history to this feature. At the end of this tunnel of flowers and through a metal gate, the view culminates in a round concrete pool surrounded by a crescent row of (contributing) cypress trees and containing a boulder atop which sits a bronze replica of the famous "Little Mermaid" statue, by Edvard Ericksen, in Copenhagen Harbor. (contributing, 1959, photos 0037, 0039, see Art) The pool and trees as a background to the statue are contributing landscape architecture featuring the statue. To either side of the pool were erected two historic (contributing, 1960, photo 0039) bronze street lamps from the city of Copenhagen replicas of which are seen today on that city's streets. The upper halves of the lanterns were removed in 2013 leaving only the 6-foot bases. The lamp posts are nevertheless contributing, anchoring as they do, the two sides of the garden and accenting the bronze statue. The city of Copenhagen is now replicating these lamps to retrofit lighting on certain streets, so ordering replacemnt tops is a future option. To the right and toward the back of the garden a recently added (noncontributing, after 2000) wood bench engraved with

4 Salt Lake Tribune September 21, 1994.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State Danish quotations, surrounding a mature beech tree. Left of the entrance to the pergola, "DENMARK" is engraved in bronze and mounted on a (contributing, 1955) sandstone boulder.

Transitioning from the Danish Section to the west is the German Section. This plot is entered through its own (contributing, 1951) faceted sandstone gate with iron archway and cutout iron letters spelling "GERMANY" in old English script, with a boundary of (contributing, 1951) box hedging and a floral border along the walking path. The theme for this display garden recreates the courtyard and fountain from Wilhelm Mueller's poem, "The Linden Tree." Standing outside this gateway overgrown with ivy within view is the forty-seven-foot faceted sandstone and decorative wooden gate with decorative large iron hinges. This (contributing, photo 0039, 0040) folly had two large bronze plaques (4 x 3 feet), installed in 1973, inscribed with the poem and dedication information until they were stolen in 2012. The (contributing, 1951, photo 0041) water feature is a round structure representing a village fountain. It is created of faceted sandstone and is a cylindrical well ten feet in diameter with a central rectangular stonework feature with a water pipe protruding (formerly a bronze dolphin head, now removed). Recirculated water poured into the cylindrical container. Towering over this well-thought-out vignette stands a (contributing, 1951) sixty-four-year-old linden tree, a success story among various nonindigenous plantings, many of which did not survive in the Gardens. On the west end inside the box hedge is an engraved (noncontributing) granite stele with a poem in German commemorating German emigration, dated 1983 with donor information. Among the roses which are the signature flower of the German Section there are eight (noncontributing) stone benches added in 1989 also with donor names. Noted on the west border outside the hedge and on the walking path facing the are two contributing concrete benches surviving since 1958, donated by the Salt Lake Council of Women.

With its rear border adjoining the rear border of the decorative gate and on the inner southwest corner of the walking loop is the Mexican Section built in 1969. The landscape is a lawn with several naturalistic flower beds. Among four sculptures are two (contributing, criterion G, 1970, photo 0042) pieces: a six foot Olmec Head carved of stone and a four foot Mayan Calendar (photo 0043) of composite by Edward Fraughton. Three replicas of Aztec deities given by the Mexican Government in 1970 are no longer extant. The calendar is mounted on a concrete dais with tiles from Mexico flanked by two small (noncontributing, after 1970, photo 0043) sculptures of heads in ancient style.

Newer Gardens Inner Loop

The Welsh Garden stands east of the Mexican Section and West of the African Section with the cypress row of the Danish pond as its backdrop. It was built in 1971. It is mostly lawn with a flag, a flower bed, and a two-dimensional iron sculpture (noncontributing, 1971, photo 0044) of a harp with strings of metal cable atop a concrete platform. This sculpture replaced an exhibit of a coal mine sometime in the 1980s.

The African Section dating from 1976 between the Welsh and Canadian Sections has a prominent (noncontributing, 1976, photo 0045) stone stele commemorating its genesis. A flagpole large flowerbed reading “Africa” stands near the walking path while a low

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State (noncontributing, 1976, photo 0045) flowerbed with large rocks loosely tracing the shape of the African Continent lies toward the rear with a view of the Viking burial mound beyond.

The Canadian Garden outlined was originally laid out in a maple leaf form outlined by logs and planted within with pine trees. The logs are no longer extant. A (noncontributing, photo 0046) wooden sign commemorates the garden’s building in 1970-71. The tiny forest and flower beds from the original planting remain.

Newer Gardens Outer Loop

The Brazilian Section is separated from the Japanese Section on its north side at the wooden bridge on the Jordan River. It occupies the southwest corner of the Gardens with the Jordan River and bike path defining its rear boundary. The flagpole and a large (noncontributing) stone tablet set in a round flowerbed spelling “Brazil” detail the origin of this garden in 1977. Original plans included a model of Sugarloaf Mountain. A reflecting pool was later installed, which is not extant.

The Section extends south from the walking path and has a (noncontributing, 1979) brick patio lined with six benches and trees. Originally conceived was a traditional hut exhibit which was not carried out in part due to Parks Division safety concerns.

South of the Philippines Section lies the Korean Section. The carefully conceived plan has and outer and an inner (contributing, photo 0047, 0048) , the gates of which are staggered according to Korean custom to dissuade evil from entering. These walls date from 1985 and are constructed of concrete stone slabs and black flat and curved tiles inlaid into the cement in a traditional pattern. The walls are topped with imported traditional black ceramic Korean roof tiles. A black stone and concrete patio extend north from an inset section of the south (inner) wall. At the entrance to this garden stand two traditional (noncontributing, 1985, photo 0049) totems made by local architect Tom Kass as would be found at the entrances of Korean villages, a flowerbed, and a rock engraved with the name “Korea.” One of the treasures of the International Peace Gardens, a kiosk built in situ in 1993 by craftsmen from Korea, has been removed by the Korean community for safekeeping after it was vandalized. The pavilion was a gift from Utah’s sister “province” Kyonggi and is decorated in bright colors in “Tanchong” style. A granite plaque etched with an image of the pavilion stands at its former location. It is thought that after acceptable security is available at the Gardens the Korean pavilion will be returned to the garden.

To the east of the Korean Section and west of the Irish Section is the Russian Section, constructed in 1981. A (noncontributing, 1987, photo 0050) stainless steel sign with an engraved steel plaque and flagpole indicate the nationality of this plot. Through a hedge gate is a (contributing, 1991, photo 0051) sculpture raised on a concrete platform depicting two kneeling girls playing cat’s cradle. Tall trees, a Korean wall to the west and chain-link fence on the south define this garden’s borders.

East again of the Russian Section is the Irish Garden built in 1989. Simple in Design, there are

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State positioned (all noncontributing) a bench, flowerbed, and flagpole next to the main walkway, and a brown brick patio extending into the lawn. Located in the middle of the plot with a tall tree in front and another behind, is a twelve-foot tall two-dimensional green (noncontributing, 1989, photo 0044, 0051) steel sculpture depicting a Celtic Cross. The Section was dedicated in 1989.

Directly east of the Irish Section lies the highly ornamented Vietnamese Section. The formal layout comprises (all noncontributing resources, 1989, photo 0052) a red wooden gate structure with cutout letters spelling “Vietnam” flanked by two concrete lions in European style, a two- dimensional steel rectangular support raised on a three tiered sandstone planter in the manner of the Irish cross and Welsh harp, which is painted red and yellow and displays a gold painted metal silhouette of the map of Vietnam. A brick patio leads visitors south from the walkway through the gate. The patio has the flagpole in the center and is lined with spiraling shrubs benches, and impressive granite boulders.

Farther East and across to the south of the Indian Section is the French Section (all noncontributing resources, 1999). The flowerbed is located in the middle of a lawn within which a concrete platform stands with a steel model of the Eiffel Tower (stolen and replaced, photo 0053). Also present are the flagpole and a flowerbed spelling .

Last on the Outer Loop and near the front gate is the (noncontributing) Tongan Garden dedicated in 2002. Two granite stele, a flagpole, and flower bed occupy the lawn. The chain-link fence borders the south and east ends of this garden.

The elongated plot south of the International Peace Gardens main entrance contains a (noncontributing) “Children’s Garden” and a (noncontributing) stone embedded with a brass plaque from the Salt Lake chapter of the United Nations.

Botanical Specimens

Following is a list of botanical specimens of particular importance to the Gardens and of particular pertinence to historical registration. They are an integral part of the garden scene and contribute greatly to its aesthetic and emotional effect—the Garden's Matterhorn or Chinese Gate would look unfinished and out of place without the contextual framing of its associated flora. Much of these specimens' importance and impact inheres in their maturity; many are original plants contributed decades ago by their countries of origin and have grown into their adopted setting along with their human fellow-immigrants. In this they are, both individually and collectively, an organic representation of the ideal of diverse people living together in peace.

Plants and Trees

 One specimen tree planted each year since 1947 to honor a past president of the Salt Lake Council of Women (contributing, see Tree Map)  Wisteria arbor in the Japanese plot (contributing, 1950, photo 0027)

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State  Nine replacement cherry trees planted in 1988 to replace stolen originals (over 100 cherry trees were planted) across the river bank from the Japanese Section (noncontributing, 1971, photo 0020)  Japanese traditionally clipped shrubbery (contributing, photo 0020)  Pergola with flowering vines in Danish garden (contributing, 1952, photo 0038)  “Sentinel Row” of blue spruce trees planted by veterans (contributing, 1949, photo 0014)  Cedar of Lebanon tree in Lebanese garden (contributing, 1959, photo 0017)  Linden tree: theme of the German Peace Garden (1960, photo 0039 far right)  John Lach flowerbeds: carpet-bedded with words spelling country names; also spread- eagle motif in the American garden (contributing, 1959, photo 0013, 0056, 0057)

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State ______8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)

X A. Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.

B. Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

X C. Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

D. Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.

Criteria Considerations (Mark “x” in all the boxes that apply.)

A. Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes

B. Removed from its original location

C. A birthplace or grave

D. A

E. A reconstructed building, object, or structure

X F. A commemorative property

X G. Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions.) _ART______ETHNIC HERITAGE ____ _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE_ _SOCIAL HISTORY______

Period of Significance

1947-2000

Significant Dates 1947, 1950, 1955, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1970, 1976, 1985, 2000 ______

Significant Person (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above.) _N/A ______

Cultural Affiliation _N/A ______

Architect/Builder _Lach, John______

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.)

The International Peace Gardens, begun in 1947 with the latest national garden dedicated in 2002, holds statewide significance as a unique public garden comprising twenty-eight participating national-identity gardens devoted specifically to the cause of world peace. Utah's Peace Gardens stand alongside the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and the International Peace Gardens in Dunseith, North Dakota, as one of just three such gardens in the United States. The eleven-acre site has a sixty-plus-year history and retains its original purpose of fostering cultural understanding and reflection on world peace through informative landscapes, art, and plaques, as well as serving as a location for ethnic festivals. The Peace Gardens are significant under criteria A and C and Criterion Consideration F and G, and have a period of significance dating from 1947 to 2000, when the latest art pieces were added that have exceptional significance under Criteria Consideration G.

Under Criteria A, the Gardens are significant in the areas of Ethnic Heritage and Social History in its reflection of a desire to increase cultural understanding prior to and following World War II. In the area of Social History the Gardens reflect the efforts of the local community to bring together and recognize the various cultures represented in the local society. In the area of Ethnic Heritage, The Peace Gardens project called upon each ethnic group to choose whether to import resources for its unique garden plot or to utilize local materials and craftsmanship, thus creating a style reflecting its distinct diaspora. Representative of Utah's Social History after World War II, the International Peace Gardens improved aesthetic and civic viewpoints of immigrants and the local community alike during the period from 1947 to the present. The Peace Garden citizenship project would assuage wounded feelings and racism heightened in the war years by allowing immigrant and cultural groups to express their homeland identities while showing allegiance to their adopted country (photo 0054). Mrs. Otto Weisley, credited with spearheading the project, stated, "Here is planted not only trees and shrubs but Americanism full of brother love."5

The International Peace Gardens are also significant under Criterion C in the area of Landscape Architecture and Art. From the standpoint of Art, the International Peace Gardens are an important place of conservation for several important works of art, and the landscape has been designed to showcase these. Based on the significance of the artwork alone the site would be suitable for nomination. From 1970 until 2000, internationally recognized sculptors were commissioned to create works for the Gardens. The Gardens fit the description of a by virtue of the placement of sculpture by recognized artists and gifts of state from other nations in combination with local folk art. Furthermore, the Gardens are comparable to outdoor museums in which buildings and structures from other locales are installed together on one site. Third, the Gardens are of arboretum status due to their collection of exotic trees, both imported and rare nonnative trees, planted one per year in honor of past presidents of the Salt Lake Council of Women. Designated by Salt Lake City as a public garden, the Gardens are a

5 Otto A. and Ruth Wiesley papers, 1921-1950

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State significant conservation site for outstanding resources owned by Salt Lake City. The plan of the Gardens is intended to provide an individual section for each participating country to design as a representation of its culture. The unique variety of landscape styles, specimen plantings, and ethnic structures chosen by the culture groups and unified by a Modernist layout and first-class floral displays make the Peace Gardens significant in the area of Landscape Architecture. The way in which Utah's International Peace Gardens conforms to the four aforementioned criteria of significance is analyzed below.

There are also two Criteria Considerations, F and G, which apply to the significance of the Gardens. Under Criteria Consideration F, there are many commemorative features, most of them plaques or markers, in the Gardens. However, where the intent of the Gardens is basically commemorative, these features should be considered contributing to the overall plan. Under Criterion Consideration G, many of the pieces of artwork and structures are less than 50 years old. However, because of their prominence in the Garden plan or their association with important artists/craftsmen,(e.g., the Korean garden planned and built under the Korean Traditional Architectural Institute they are considered to be exceptionally significant.

______

Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)

Social History

A result of communities and charities collaborating with government officials, the creation of the International Peace Gardens involved a spectrum of civic endeavors: volunteering, attending town meetings, forming committees, electing representatives, lobbying, and fundraising. By reason of its location on the west side of town, a section of Salt Lake City traditionally less well- funded for beautification projects and home to many of its citizens of diversity, the International Peace Gardens was significant in local terms from a social history standpoint. Utahans, proud of their pioneer heritage often quote early leader Brigham Young, who, regarding the barren Salt Lake Valley, quoted Isaiah 35:1 "The desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose," and were undeterred in their reclamation of a deplored of acreage used as a dump, liable to flooding and in need of one year of salt neutralization and topsoil before vegetation could begin.

Similarly, Utahans had also been ardently patriotic and civic. The Salt Lake Council of Women, an umbrella organization with the mission of coordinating all female-directed charities on the Wasatch Front for the betterment of the community, had worked with Salt Lake City on the Peace Gardens from its inception in 1938 and commencement in 1947, until the present day. This one-hundred-year-old organization supplied food to the Finns during World War II famine, and donated to the USO, the Red Cross and the War Bond Drives. In 1947 the United Nations was forming, and there was a euphoric feeling in the country that people from different walks of life would be able to finally live together in peace. The past presidents of the Council of Women organized a committee with city parks employees and representatives from each cultural group as chairpersons for respective gardens. Thus they likened their "gardening-by-committee"

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State decision-making process to a miniature United Nations. Similar teamwork happened at the next level as civic clubs and immigrant fellowships sought funding and in-kind donations locally and from abroad. In the case of the Swedish Garden for example, four groups contributed. Ceremonial dedications, regularly attended by mayors, ambassadors, and other dignitaries were held as each completed garden was given to the City of Salt Lake. Utah has through this project formed a unique sixty-year-long link to the International setting and peace movement modelled by the United Nations.

Ethnic Heritage

The International Peace Gardens meets the requirements of Ethnic Heritage significance by placing Utah ahead of its time in a paradigm shift to what would, post 1970's, be termed the "American Mosaic" in which various cultures mix but remain distinct. Prior to this, emphasis had been placed on the theory of total assimilation of immigrants into the melting pot of American Society. The Gardens are an important symbol Utah's tradition of welcoming diverse peoples to its community. By the 1930s, Utah had attracted immigrants from many lands in part due to the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ international missionary program, and various mining communities and other employment opportunities in the state. This tradition continues today with Salt Lake City serving as a refugee Gateway City.

The Peace Garden concept, by specifying that each group build a garden reflective of its homeland, created the challenge to take pride in one's heritage and national styles. Other results of the project included providing an outlet for traditional design styles and skills acquired prior to immigration or the need to become competent in those styles. There was also a requirement in some cases to establish ties with national officials or reconnect with relatives in the home country to organize artwork and plants to be shipped to Utah. Upon completion of each ethnic heritage garden section, the site would become a place to celebrate respective nations’ festivals and pass on the cultural traditions to the next generation. In the 1950s and 1960s, hostesses (see photo 0055) who were connected to specific gardens dressed in ethnic costume from diverse lands and would guide tourists through the Garden. This fostered cultural understanding among local community members and tourists, who had often included the International Peace Gardens on their United States itineraries after hearing about them abroad. In some cases, the Gardens were deemed culturally important enough to receive international gifts of state such as Cedars of Lebanon, a sundial and flag from the King of Sweden, and a Gupta Buddha from India.

The Japanese garden is illustrative of the tribulations sometimes encountered in attempting a project on this scale and why the dauntless efforts in preserving this site of Japanese culture in Utah by the Japanese Utahans are woven into Utah’s ethnic heritage fabric. Japanese Americans were interned in Utah during World War II as they were considered enemies by many. After the war, the Japanese American citizens became the first to complete their garden which is most elaborate of all. Fundraising was done among the children of Japan and one thousand cherry trees were sent, along with four Edo Period palace stone lamps. The cherry trees were refused importation and burned by the U.S. department of . The media reported the incident which led to a national U.S. fundraising campaign to replace these trees with locally grown

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State cherry trees. As a gesture of gratitude, Boy Scout equipment was also given to the Japanese, beginning the well-publicized "Cherry Friendship." Subsequent replacement gifts of trees from Japan were stolen from the Garden, but nine trees remain. More recently, the historic rehabilitation and expansion of the Utah State Capitol building unfortunately included cutting down6 the fifty-year-old stand of cherry trees the Japanese community had contributed as part of the original planting shared between the Peace Gardens, the Utah Fairgrounds, and the YWCA. Numerous instances such as the burning of the teahouse from Japan and the theft of the Kwannon statue which had survived two Allied bombings in Tokyo were would-be obstacles to the culmination of this garden's design. Undaunted, the Japanese community has replaced these resources while preserving the overall integrity of this garden plot as a symbol of cultural commitment to their roots in Japan as well as their civic commitment to their new life in the United States.

Thus, in unexpected ways, the Peace Garden project, including its setbacks, has sometimes strengthened the resilience of ethnic heritage identity, amalgamating it with Utah's own post-war cultural heritage and is appreciated as such. Over time the ethnic cultural resources of the garden have been claimed by all our citizens. This is showcased by recent public outcries which overcame the threat to cut city funding for the floral displays in 2011 and the action taken after the disappearance of the "Little Mermaid" statue from the Danish section in 2011, after which citizens outside the Danish association worked in tandem with the Danish group to recover and conserve the statue.7

Landscape Architecture

The International Peace Gardens is significant under the criterion of Landscape Architecture. The site contains important garden styles and plantings from other countries remarkable among which is the first-large scale Japanese traditional stroll (Kayushiki Teien) garden in Utah. This landscape introduced Utahans to Japanese aesthetic and philosophical ideals. The inclusion of features such as Twin Mountains, a waterfall, a pond with an artificial island, bridges, a footpath, a wisteria arbor, cherry trees, and an entrance gate, in the garden exemplifies the Japanese understanding of relationships between man Earth and Heaven. The garden concept was modelled in clay by Takeshi Miya, and implementation was supervised by two garden experts from the Japanese Consul in San Francisco. The landscaping also provides a context for the display four highly significant stone lanterns (see Art). These lanterns were donated from the bombed-out garden of Mr. Kobayashi, a tooth powder magnate, and were shipped through General MacArthur’s office in Tokyo, carrying with them additional historical significance. The integrity of the Japanese garden has suffered somewhat, but the infrastructure remains, including the placement of stone boulders brought from Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City. Despite the loss of some objects including a bronze statue, a teahouse, and one hundred cherry trees, as well as the replacement of the welcome gate with one of a new design in 1971, the feeling and primary distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese Section remain intact.

6 Deseret News, August 24, 2004. 7 Salt Lake Tribune, April 5, 2010.

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State The Chinese Section is another landscape which embodies the major features of a Chinese Garden but presented in a thoroughly up-to-date 1950s style. In contrast to the Japanese Section, the significance of the other contributing nation garden sections does not stem from recreating an exact replica of a garden as it would have been planted in the old country, but instead through staging a vignette alluding to landmarks and icons emblematic of that country, using landscape design as a medium. Thus, rather than a Danish traditional garden we have a grassy plot with several iconic features of Denmark. In the Swiss Garden we have a scale folly of the Matterhorn with a scaled alpine cottage, creating a vista as if the viewer were visiting a hamlet in Zermatt. The German Garden designers created a life-sized illustration of a famous German poem. The Lebanese intended to have a folly of Biblical ruins at the foot of cedars of Lebanon. The Dutch wanted a windmill pumping water and a huge wooden shoe planted with tulips. While these sections might be thought of as more permanent display gardens in style as in a world exposition or Chelsea Garden Show, their primary significance as landscape architecture emanates from the sheer variety of international styles, garden architecture, and plant choices and how they harmonize to engross the visitor.

John Lach, City Landscape Architect, was engaged with the task of laying out a public garden which would juxtapose over twenty different cultural garden designs into a unified plan. The City sent him to Cleveland's International Peace Gardens and Victoria's Buchart gardens to derive inspiration. From Cleveland he seems to have extracted the layout allowing access to each nation garden from a central concrete walking path and the use of gates or flowerbeds to dramatize the entrances to each section. From The Buchart Gardens he embraced the effective use of adventurous plant combinations with lavish colors which would bring fame to the Peace Gardens as a destination for viewing floral display work.

Upon his return Lach dovetailed both styles into a plan for Salt Lake's Peace Gardens under the contemporary vogue principles of California Modernist style, one notable proponent of which was Thomas Dolliver Church, famous for various examples of garden "rooms" and use of modern (photo 0056, 0057). Lach would have taken into account the way the growing- in of trees and additions of garden architecture would, over decades, soften the formal boundary shapes with divergent verticals (photo 0058). His compelling softscape transformed the barren tract into lush gardens of engaging aspect based on his artful survey. Using manicured flat expanses of lawn like a canvas, Lach drew formal geometric patterns with concrete walkways. He then selected varied linear edging solutions such as rows of trees or hedgerows to demarcate nation plots without isolating them from one another. Markedly, Lach's audacious floral carpet- bedded pillow mounds were his preeminent touch, patterning nurtured flowers and slow growing clipped foliage in motifs and spelling out "Utah We Love Thee," "God Bless America," and country names.

The intentional geometry of the flower beds and walkways guided the visitor’s eye across long perspectives of the garden, allowing it to take in several nations' structures at once (photo 0059). Lach’s landscape design for the International Peace Gardens may be a lesson in Modernist style with its clean simple lines and ellipses, comprising hedgerows and formal flower beds, pergolas, gateways, cement pathways, circular ponds, rows of trees, and groupings of rocks. Thus seamlessly, he integrates eclectic foreign architectural forms using softscape and hardscape

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State garden elements, giving prominence to the lavish cultural features by placing them against a classical Minimalist background.

Art

The vista experienced by visitors is a result of the International Peace Gardens' designers and artisans’ ability to meld disparate gardening styles and architectural structures into a unified scene. Strategic clumping of trees allows for surprise visions of monuments when the proper viewpoint is reached, as well as other effects various perambulations provide. Important works of art enclosed within the property as commissioned or donated and around which the landscape was artfully planned alone qualify this landscape as significant. Below contributing artwork is described. The International Peace Gardens are also significant under Criteria Consideration G because they contain sculptures by locally, internationally recognized sculptors dating from 1970 to 2000.

Criteria Consideration

Because of the nature of the Peace Gardens, a post-war commemorative park, a number of Criteria Considerations apply to this nomination. Criteria Consideration E applies because the gateway to the Lebanese Peace Garden contains components salvaged and reassembled in the 1950s from the sandstone façade of a demolished historic building in Salt Lake City. Criteria Consideration F applies because the intent of the Gardens was to recreate in Utah the landscaping of immigrants’ homelands. The park is replete with commemorative resources: bronze plaques and trees commemorate gifts of state, internationally renowned figures, visits by foreign officials, local community leaders, as well as the gardens themselves, their organizers, designers and donors. Criteria Consideration G applies because first, the Korean Section built in 1985 is an outstanding authentic replica of traditional built with manpower and resources from Korea and second, because a number of sculptures under fifty years old installed in the Gardens are by internationally recognized sculptors. These include, The Bauta Stone (Randi Bjorge,1972), A Monument to Peace; Our Hope the Children (Avard Fairbanks, 1976), Peace Cradle (Dennis Smith c.1988) and four works by Edward Fraughton (Olmec Head,1970, Aztec Calendar, 1970, Iron Lady, 1996 and Untitled female figure c.2000).

Contributing artwork

The Danish Section contains a round pool at the end of a pergola with a large boulder atop which sits the Little Mermaid, (contributing, 1959, photo 0037, 0039) a bronze cast with permission from its original sculptor which is signed Edvard Ericksen and dated 1955. At the time of installation at the Peace Gardens, the original sculpture was the third bronze cast of the famous sculpture in Copenhagen harbor to be sanctioned by the artist for placement in a foreign country (others were displayed in Switzerland and Hong Kong). When the statue was stolen in 1955, it was replaced with a half-sized model in 1959. The replacement statue was stolen in 2011 but recovered, restored and returned to its original position; the Little Mermaid sits atop a much larger 5,000 pound granite boulder now. The sculpture has become an icon of Denmark and

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State represents the character from Hans Christian Andersen's 1836 story "The Little Mermaid." Sculpted in neoclassical style with elements of Art Nouveau swirling lines, the bronze represents the moment when the story's heroine transforms from a mermaid to a human, her fishtail becoming a pair of legs. The statue and its surroundings retain good integrity.

The American section boasts the (contributing, photo 0003) "A Monument to Peace: Our Hope for the Children" made of concrete with metal and rose quartz by the prominent native Utah sculptor of national reputation, Avard Fairbanks, 1897-1987. Fairbanks' association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints led to many commissions for Mormon Temples and Mormon commemorative sculpture. His works are also exhibited in the Nation's and Utah's capitol buildings, and in collections of numerous universities and art museums throughout the United States. Fairbanks was founding dean of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Utah. This monument anchors the southeast portion of the American Garden. The subject is a personification of Peace on Earth, a floating angelic figure holding an orb. Below on the south side is a concrete sun radiating a halo of metal beams. The forefront of the monument depicts three children. An older boy holds a tablet, a girl has her arm on a wheel, and a younger boy is seated beneath her. The overall monument is within a geometric structure on a concrete base.

Chinese lions and calligraphy

Two (noncontributing, 1979, photo 0031, 0033) marble Chinese Lion sculptures given by the Chinese Culture Center in 1979. The Chinese Entrance Gate has (contributing, photo 0033) calligraphy written by the Ambassador from Taiwan, circa 1952. Calligraphy is an art form in China. In 2013, as part of a restoration project, his calligraphy was engraved into the (noncontributing, photo 0033) cedar plaque, according to Chinese Custom.

Korean Pavilion A replica of a famous Korean Pavilion built in Korea and constructed on site at the Peace Gardens. (Now removed for safekeeping and replaced by a stone memorial with the pavilion's silhouette engraved. (Currently noncontributing, photo 0060)

Sculptures by Edward Fraughton Edward Fraughton, a native of Park City Utah, is a nationally recognized sculptor. His fifteen monumental works include “The Mormon Battalion” at the Presidio in San Diego, the Reagan Presidential inauguration and “Where Trails End” exhibited at the Reagan Presidential library. He is responsible for the largest monumental contemporary realist sculpture in North America, “Nebraska Wilderness” and “Pioneer Courage” in Omaha.

The English Section contains a Fraughton (contributing, 1916, photo 0006) bust, Iron Lady, cast in resin depicting Margaret Thatcher installed in 2000. The bust is in very good condition but the commemorative plaque is missing. Within the entrance to the International Peace Gardens stands a Fraughton (untitled, contributing, c. 2000, photo 0002) sculpture of depicting a woman in a gown with extended arms. Fraughton’s wife served as the model for this cast resin statue. It is in overall fair condition, one arm having been broken and replaced in a folded position with a resin rose added in 2013.

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International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

In the Mexican Garden stands an (untitled, contributing, 1970, photo 0042) stone sculpture seven feet high inspired by the Iconic colossal basalt heads of the Olmec civilization of Southeastern Mexico dating from 1500-1000 BCE. It is in fair condition, having had repairs around the nose area. An (untitled, contributing, 1970, photo 0043) composite stone Aztec Calendar in the Mexican Section is the third replacement of Fraughton’s original sculpture. It was broken in half but was later repaired.

Peace Cradle

The Russian Section has a contemporary realist style (contributing, photo 0051) sculpture depicting two kneeling girls playing cat’s cradle circa 1988. The recognized Utah sculptor, Dennis Smith, born in 1942, is noted especially for Latter-day Saint-themed sculptures and depictions of children in the act of discovery. His work is found in Nauvoo, Illinois, Brigham Young University and the American Embassy in Moscow. Worth mentioning is a sculpture depicting a Danish Mormon emigrant family about to depart Denmark placed at Rebild National Park, property donated to People of Denmark by Danish Immigrants to the United States. The sculpture is in very good condition.

Danish Lamps

In the Danish Section are two antique street lamps from Copenhagen. They are metal with hand- blown glass bowls topped with Chinoiserie finials. They were imported to Salt Lake in 1969. The upper halves of the lanterns went missing from the gardens in late 2013. (contributing, 1960, photo 0039 behind Mermaid) Poor condition.

Japanese Lanterns

Three granite garden lanterns in the Japanese Section were imported from Japan around 1948. A patron of the Ueno zoo in Tokyo donated the articles from his garden in Japan which had been bombed in World War II. They were considered to be three hundred years old in 1948. The two (contributing, photo 0025, 0026) tall lanterns are of the kasuga-dōrō type decorated with deer and Chinese zodiac animals respectively, and the (contributing, photo 0020) squat lantern is of the yukimi-dōrō, or snow viewing type. They are in good condition with little erosion or breakage.

Preaching Buddha

In the Indian Section is a bronze (contributing, photo 0028, 0029) replica of the iconic Sarnath Buddha, “First Sermon” from the Gupta Period in India. The sculpture is smaller in scale and was a gift of the Indian government in 1965. It is in very good condition.

Mahatma Gandhi bust

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State In the Indian section, this (noncontributing, photo 0030) bronze likeness of Gandhi was also a gift of the Government of India and the Consul General of India in 1997. Very good condition.

Bauta Stone

The Norwegian Garden houses the (contributing, photo 0010) Bauta stone, a two-dimensional feature shaped like a flattened obelisk. The concrete twenty-two-foot-tall object is a 1972 work by Randi Borge. It is engraved on the front with folk figures such as fishermen, and on the back with a Viking dragon and English inscription in runic script. It is in very good condition. The sculptor was Randi Bjorge (1920-1998), a well-known artist and designer in her native Norway who immigrated to Utah. She was honored by the Utah Arts Council and the State of Utah for her artwork.

Lebanese gate

The (contributing, photo 0019) gate to the Lebanese Garden was composed using pieces of the facade of the demolished Cullen Hotel (photo 0018) in Salt Lake City. The sandstone arch elements and columns were added to a concrete support and topped with an iron arch in 1959. The arch is intact today but has suffered extreme erosion of the classical architectural features due to exposure to the elements. Despite its poor condition, this weathered archway does not mar the appearance of the garden, which had the intended theme of Biblical ruins.

Integrity

The appraised overall integrity of the International Peace Gardens is good. Despite maintenance issues, the few renovations have left the garden with many fifty-year-old resources. Space was left in the original design for later additions and tree plantings. Vegetation has lost some integrity as plants have died and been removed. Although less manicured today, the flowerbeds are also similar to fifty years ago, retaining the tradition of spelling country names with plants. Many of the original specimen trees have grown to maturity, and even unique plantings from abroad, such a cedar tree from Lebanon, still stand. Nine newer Japanese flowering cherry trees given by Matsumoto, Salt Lake City's sister city, have replaced earlier lost ones. It must be noted that a great many of the original specimen plants noted in historical documents can no longer be seen on the grounds. The Parks department removed hedgerows which had originally divided a number of the garden sections in the end of the last century. For some of these lost original botanicals, replanting is a future option, as is the rebuilding of the Finnish sauna and replacement by replica of most lost objects. Thus, the present deterioration is considered reversible. The tradition of planting a specimen tree each year by the Salt Lake Council of Women was also planned during the period of significance and has added more trees where other specimens have been lost. The site occupies its original position and its boundaries and topography have not changed since the period of significance. The site furnishings are mostly intact, and many benches have been added as well as structures in newer gardens. Many of the original structures are still intact and only need minimal restoration. Other structures were replaced over fifty years ago and the replacements themselves have good integrity. Despite the loss of two important (A Japanese Kwannon statue and a Sundial from the King of Sweden), as well as four

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State archaeological replicas given by the Mexican government, the site exuberantly conveys its original feeling. The cement walking footpath and entrances to the gardens have changed little in the gardens built during the period of significance. The garden is clearly recognizable today as the same site visitors beheld in the 1960s.

Vandalism

Instances of vandalism have damaged the integrity of the gardens, leading to boarding up glass windows and in some cases removing garden architecture. Bronze plaques, flowers, cherry trees taken as “souvenirs”, and important art, namely a sundial donated by the King of Sweden and a Bodhisattva bronze statue which survived two bombings in Tokyo have been stolen and vandalized. Plans are being made to enhance security as well as file insurance claims to replicate stolen art and plaques with the intention of returning the International Peace Gardens to the way it appeared at its zenith in the 1960s.

______9. Major Bibliographical References

Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

Papanikolas, Helen Z., edited by The Peoples of Utah Salt Lake City : Utah State Historical Society, c1976 International Peace Gardens records, 1939-1960 / held by Utah historical Society Alice Kasai, Alice Kasai papers, 1911-2007 / held by University of Utah Libraries Wiesley, Otto A Otto A. and Ruth Wiesley papers (scrapbooks), 1921-1950 / held by Utah Historical Society Oral Interviews with descendants of John Lach, Salt Lake City, held by Peace Gardens International Academy Oral interview with Tom Kass, Salt Lake City, held by Peace Gardens International Academy The Deseret News The Salt Lake Tribune

______

Previous documentation on file (NPS):

____ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested ____ previously listed in the National Register ____ previously determined eligible by the National Register ____ designated a National Historic Landmark ____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #______recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ______recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ______

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State Primary location of additional data: _X_ State Historic Preservation Office ____ Other State agency ____ Federal agency ____ Local government ____ University ____ Other Name of repository: ______

Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ______

______10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property _11 acres______

Use either the UTM system or latitude/longitude coordinates

Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84:______(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)

1. Latitude: 40.747769° Longitude: -111.922322°

2. Latitude: 40.747769° Longitude: -111.922322°

3. Latitude: 40.746727° Longitude: -111.919396°

4. Latitude: 40.746618° Longitude: -111.921921°

Or UTM References Datum (indicated on USGS map):

NAD 1927 or NAD 1983

1. Zone: Easting: Northing:

2. Zone: Easting: Northing:

3. Zone: Easting: Northing:

4. Zone: Easting : Northing:

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United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

International Peace Gardens Salt Lake County, UT Name of Property County and State

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) Salt Lake City Corporation property: no original deed. See attached City Recorder document. See Map for detail.

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.) The boundaries are those originally designated for the park, and remain the same.

______11. Form Prepared By

name/title: _Steven Lemmon ______organization: _Peace Gardens International Academy______street & number: _1176 Iris Lane______city or town: Salt Lake City ______state: _UT______zip code:_84106______e-mail [email protected]______telephone:___347-977-4117______date:______April 17, 2014____

______

Additional Documentation

Submit the following items with the completed form:

 Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

 Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map.

 Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)

Photographs Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 1600x1200 pixels (minimum), 3000x2000 preferred, at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer,

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Attachment D Public Comments From: Susan Crook To: Pace, Katia Subject: International Peace Gardens National Register Listing Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:37:48 PM

Historic Landmark Commissioners,

I was chair of the City and County Building Conservancy and Use Committee when we were dealing with the aftermath of the 2002 Winter Olympics on Washington Square. I am pleased to know that SHPO is recommending that the International Peace Gardens be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. I hope the Landmark Commission concurs and is also recommending placing it on the SLC Landmark Sites list.

The City’s other historic parks and not already listed on the National Register should be surveyed for National Register eligibility and should be protected under the City’s historic preservation ordinance and Community Preservation Plan with listing as Landmark Sites when they qualify for local listing.

Thanks for all you do to balance the protection and use of Salt Lake City’s historic resources.

Susan

Susan Crook, ASLA, PLA, Principal Landscape Architect IOlandscapeARCHITECTURE 1405 West Primrose Drive, St. George UT 84770 | 307 West 200 South, Suite 4004, Salt Lake City UT 84101 | cell/text 435.773.7920 | office 801.610.1066 | www.iolandarch.com